Scars
by Doccubus
Summary: I thought there was nothing that could ease the pain in my heart, until I met Naomi Campbell... Emily/Naomi
1. Prologue

**AN: This is a new story I've been working purely Naomily, there are no other pairings focused on. They may be mentioned but this is about Naomily. Now the theme of this story is rather rough, it is something that is slightly based on my life emphasis on slightly I've completely dramatized it, but I won't know if you want me to continue if you don't leave reviews so please do so.**

Scars

Prologue

The room was spinning and there was black at the edges of my eyes. My hands and ankles were aching from the rusted metal pressed firmly against them, and the crook under my elbow was stinging from the infection all those needles have caused.

I let my head droop forward and tried to close my eyes so I wouldn't have to see his face. I felt his wrinkly hands on my chest caressing it.

"You've become old," he murmured. "You were perfect when you were 15. I'll have to find a new girl."

I didn't say a word just let out a pleading sob.

"You want me to set you free?" He growled.

I whimpered.

He laughed, this horrible low laugh and heard his footsteps as he walked behind me. "You're asking for too much love. Mm, do you remember when I took you this way?"

I let out a sob and opened my eyes knowing it would be the last thing I'd ever see. My vision was still blurry from whatever he injected into my blood stream, but I didn't need to see perfectly. The room hasn't changed in two years: dimly lit, moldy basement with not a single clean surface,

I felt a sharp sting on my back as the leather cracked. I cried out in agony. The wounds were still fresh from yesterday's beating so the hits were doubly excruciating.

Three more hits were delivered swiftly and I felt my knees buckle. The chains on my wrists held me up and I let out another strangled cry.

I felt his body behind me pressing against my back and I felt a blade pressing against my stomach.

"I'm going to gut you like a pig so no one can ever find you beautiful," he hissed in my ear. His disgusting breath made me want to vomit. "You are mine."

"Ahh!" I screamed as the blade sliced down my stomach in one long line. "Please," I finally spoke.

"No more silent treatment now?" He said running the bloody blade over my inner thighs.

"Please, just kill me quick, please."

"You want a quick death?" He said slicing my right inner thigh with the blade. It was even more painful that I could have ever imagined.

I sobbed loudly and begged again, "please Foster, kill me quick, I beg you."

He brought the blade to my throat. "Say my first name Emily, say it the way I like it and I'll slit your throat now. Quick."

I felt tears streaming down my face and I closed my eyes. "Please do it John, my Johnny."

"Good girl," he murmured. I readied myself for pain, but instead I felt the blade move away.

"N-no," I sobbed.

"Don't worry Emily," he said moving away from me. "Open your eyes."

I opened my eyes and saw him standing in front of me with a nasty sneer on his face.

"I keep my promises Emily," he said softly, "I will make it quick, but I want my face to be the last thing you see."

I gulped and let out a sob. Everything happened in a flash. The basement door flew open and Foster looked towards it in surprise. A body slammed into him hard sending the blade flying from his hands.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU FOOKIN' BASTARD!"

I recognized that voice but I couldn't connect the dots. My mind was hazy and I could barely see through my tears.

There was someone in front of me but I could barely see him. He spoke in a soft tone that calmed me down. "Emily, it's okay Emily, you're safe now."

I blinked my eyes and looked right into his brown eyes. His sliky brown hair was a bit longer than two years ago when I had been kidnapped but his kind face still looked the same. "Freddie," I croaked.

"Shh," he said softly taking off his jacket.

I saw the other guy tying the unconscious Foster to my other set of chains, the ones that held me in my sleep. He pulled the keys out of Foster's pocket and stood up growling, "fockin cunt."

Suddenly I connected the voice: Cook.

"The police are on their way Emily," Freddie said softly. "He will go to jail for the rest of his life."

"Emily," Cook said running to Freddie's eyes. His eyes looked so crazed and full of tears as he hand Freddie the keys because his hands were trembling too much. I felt Freddie unlocking the chains around my wrists as Cook said, "I'm sorry Emily." He burst into tears. "You were so drunk and I gave you the MDMA I should have taken care of you."

My wrists ached as they were released from their metal prison and I fell forward against Freddie, my knees unable to keep me standing.

He held me firm as Cook shifted in his spot anxiously. "Unlock her feet mate," Freddie said keeping his calm.

"Cook," I breathed as he unlocked my ankles, "not your fault."

"Red," Cook sobbed in protest, "I should've..."

"Not your fault," I said louder even though my voice was raspy and cracking.

"Shh, don't talk Emily, don't talk," Freddie soothed draping his jacket over my naked body and carrying me into his arms.

Cook held my hand and walked beside Freddie as he carried me out of the basement. We went through Foster's house that I had only seen the night of the kidnapping when he carried me through it.

Cook let go of my hand and walked in front of us backwards making sure Freddie didn't bump my head into anything. He looked so worried and guilty; he truly blamed himself for two years.

The morning light hurt my eyes and I squinted to adjust to it. I felt the heat on my skin and I burst into tears. I never thought I'd feel it again.

"Emily! What's wrong?" Cook cried.

"Shh, it's alright Emily, everything is okay now," Freddie said holding me closer to him.

"Was she there?"

It was a feminine voice: cool, smooth, and calm. Could only be...

"Yeah Effy, open the car door, we need to get her to a hospital," Freddie said.

"Emily?"

Another voice. A familiar one. One I never thought I'd hear again. One that used to annoy me but I've missed so much in that basement.

"Katie," I breathed. My tears turned into sobs and I screamed out as loud as my hoarse voice could allow, "Katie!"

I heard a sob and Cook was nearly shoved aside as my sister ran to me in a fit of tears. She had deep bags under her eyes and she was sobbing so hysterically it actually hurt my heart. I felt her hands touching my cheeks and her lips kissing my forehead and nose as if she had found the most valuable object in the entire world.

"Emily, Emily, oh God Emily," Katie breathed desperately.

"I thought I'd never see you again," I said wrapping an arm around her neck weakly. I want to hug her, I wanted a famous Fitch hug from her and I wanted her to hold me until all the pain went away.

She leaned her forehead against mine understanding what I wanted. I heard loud sirens but they were muffled. I was having a hard time staying conscious.

"The police are here," Effy said though she sounded distant, like she was a million miles away.

"Emily? Emily! What's wrong with her?" Katie cried in panic.

"She's lost a lot of blood, come on we gotta get her to a hospital," Freddie said.

I felt my body moving and I felt Katie grabbing my hand and crying.

Someone said, "I'll drive," but I couldn't tell who. Then everything went dark.

**AN: So? Too much? Continue yay or nay?**


	2. College

**AN: I'm very glad to know you guys like this story and it was too much but have in mind this is a story of intense nature so there will be plenty of drama and angst but that also means there will be an incredible amount of passion. This story unlike any other I've ever written (and actually really rare in the skins fanfic world) will stay in Emily's point of view ONLY so we will really get into her mind and we won't know what anyone else thinking only Emily's perceptions of them, just like real life. I hope I do her justice**

Scars

College

"Emily, you don't have to go," Katie said sitting across from me. "You caught up and finished high school through home-schooling, maybe you can do the same with A-levels."

It had been a year since the whole Foster incident and Katie was still as overprotective as always. Cook practically lived here with how often he came over, though I still wasn't sure if it was because of guilt or if he genuinely enjoyed my company.

Freddie and Effy visited often too. When I was kidnapped Freddie was dating Katie and Cook was having some crazy affair with Effy. They were too wrapped up in their relationships to notice me drunkenly step outside for a fag and when he covered my mouth with his hand and stuck that needle in my arm, no one heard me screaming.

Things seemed to switch now. Effy was having a serious relationship with Freddie that was as cliche as it gets. With how much Effy hated being classified as cliche or corny she must really love him.

Katie was single, which was something I'd never seen before but she constantly flirted with Cook. And Cook, well he was Cook always trying to find a way into girl's knickers. There were new people in the group too, which was a bit weird. They were friendly and everything, but they didn't know what had happened to me, so I didn't feel as...comfortable, I guess.

Pandora is a bit peculiar and innocent at heart. She is very sweet to me and often makes me laugh when I'm shifting into one of my depressy-moods. (Yes that term was coined by Katie.) Panda was introduced by Effy who had befriended her in high school after the kidnapping.

J.J was Freddie's neighbor who had become a third musketeer to Freddie and Cook who treated him like a little brother. He was slightly autistic and didn't speak much unless he went on one of his rants, called 'locked on.' I think people thought it was safe to talk freely around him because he wouldn't understand, but I found that J.J was way more perceptive than anyone gave him credit for. He knew something had happened in my past, something bad, but he knew not to ask. I saw the way he looked at me with this sweet look that said, 'I wish I could help you."

It was hard to adjust to all the changes at first, especially with all the therapy and catching up on schoolwork to even be able to go to college. I didn't want to leave my room where my Dad could protect me. Heck I even felt safer around James. But eventually I had changed my wardrobe to clothes that covered my scars and got out there in the world again. I hung out with the gang-Katie and Cook on either side of me the entire time-and even made a few acquaintances of my own.

I was looking forward to starting college actually. I saw it as an opportunity to finally move on from my past.

I loved Katie and Cook and Freddie and Effy and all my friends but they didn't understand me. They were kind and caring and always willing to listen, but they couldn't understand.

John Foster had broken me. He took that shy innocent Emily in her early high school years trying to assert herself and break off from her twin and destroyed her until she didn't even remember who she was.

What purpose does my life have now? I had dreams once, and goals...but I don't remember them now. It's like one of those dreams that feel realistic and cause an actual emotional reaction within you, but when you wake up in the morning you can't remember a thing.

"Emsy are you going to depressy-mood again?"

I looked up at Katie whom I had forgotten I was even speaking to.

She sighed and said, "you know maybe it wasn't a good idea to stop the antidepressants."

I shook my head and gave her a sad smile. "No Katie, they numb me. I don't want to be numb. If you're numb all the time you'll never move past it."

"I know, but you've been going off to depressy-land more often now, and I'm scared one day you won't come back."

"I'll always come back Kay," I said softly. "Who's gonna beat the shit out of James when he pervs on you?"

Katie chuckled and sat beside me on the bed. She put her hand on my knee and said, "so college?"

"I want to go Katie," I said softly.

"We may not be in all the same classes Ems, you may be in a class with no one from the gang at all."

Gotta admit, that prospect was scary. I've only ever hung out with the gang. Even when I met new people I always had other people with me, mostly Effy who constantly encouraged me to meet new people.

I took a deep breath and said, "I have to learn to be independent sometime yeah?"

Katie looked worried for a moment then gave me a smile, "okay then."

...

I was really not surprised when Cook destroyed the college meeting in the gym. I did not expect him to flash his tattooed penis to our entire class, but hey Cook is not Cook if he's predictable. The gym was pretty packed. There were loads of people, enough to get lost in. I stood the whole time beside the bleachers in the back where I could see my friends sitting together on the corner but no one else beyond that, and I could see the faculty in the front. Harriet and Doug were running the whole meeting, and a teacher, Keiran was introduced as the school counselor though he didn't seem too enthused about the idea.

After the meeting we all went to the tables set up behind Harriet and Doug to pick up our class schedules. Katie and Effy walked on either side of me through the crowd as if they were my bodyguards.

It was slightly embarrassing, but it was better than trying to go through the crowd on my own. I knew even before I got my schedule that I had one class none of the gang were in, photography. I had chosen it as my elective because I took a liking to it after I was released from the hospital.

My scars were still fresh and my mum had to put ointment on them and change the bandages every four hours. It was painful and horrifying every single time, so my mum suggested a distraction like reading or drawing. Katie brought me an interesting-looking book from the library at her school, but I had helped Dad clean the attic that morning and found myself intrigued with this professional camera my dad had in uni. He was majoring in athletics and wanted to make a portfolio to get into the professional sports world as a personal trainer, so he bought the camera to take pictures of the people he trained at the local gym as well as himself. At the end he decided to open his own gym, so he put the camera away.

I took pictures of everything and anything I could, then I would download them onto my computer and edit them experimentally. Sometimes I made collages, or changed the color of things, or blurred and melded things to make it look abstract. I printed all of them and kept them in a little folder.

In the photography class offered here, they would teach me the old-fashioned techniques like using a film camera and developing in red rooms. It excited me to no end, I almost didn't feel scared to go into that class, completely and utterly alone.

Almost.


	3. Photo-mania

**AN: I really do like this story this is my fave that I've written I am really dedicating time to character work and plot so here we go, your reviews are immensely encouraging so thank you all and like I said to Marsupial I bet there's a ton of questions, all will be answered trust me.****  
**

Scars

Photo-mania

Photography was my first class. I was glad for that because I knew I would wake up every morning excited for college. If I had it later and had math, or history or science first I'd have to drag my arse out of bed and force myself to go. On lazy days I'd just wake up later and go to photography class. The fact that it was first already made me a better student, it's not like I would leave after class and not go to my other classes to go back to sleep.

Though I'm sure it's something Cook would do. Freddie would too since he seemed to be more of a pothead than before. That boy smoked a spliff before he even brushed his teeth.

When I walked into my photography classroom there wasn't that many people there. The professor was a chubby middle-aged man with a beret on his head and these huge bottle cap glasses on his face. He seemed very sociable chatting with a student who was enthusiastically asking him questions about lighting angles.

I sat in the back of the classroom so people wouldn't have to brush past me to get to their seats. It was the right choice, because no sooner had I sat down then a crowd of people walked in. Some of them were in small groups and some were alone. They took their seats in different areas of the classroom as the professor stood up to greet them.

"Welcome to photography," he said after all the students had settled in, "I am Professor Holster, but please call me Ken. I only call role on the first day to make sure everyone here is enrolled and on my roster, than I don't give a flying fuck if you show up. It's your grade and your responsibility not mine."

The class had erupted in giggles at his statement; they seemed to enjoy his casual demeanor. I, for one, didn't trust men in general-except Cook, Freddie, J.J and my Dad-especially if they were middle-aged.

"Angela Alder?"

"Present."

I leaned back in my seat as he called names waiting until he reached the last names with D so I could listen out for my name.

Everyone he'd called so far had been present but I wasn't paying much attention, I was anxious for him to finish so I could get my first assignment.

"Naomi Campbell?"

The class erupted in laughter at that. I rolled my eyes, so childish.

He called the name again, "Naomi Campbell?"

He looked around the room looking for a hand or head nod, but saw nothing. Everyone was glancing around the room looking for the owner of the funny name but she didn't seem to be here. "Last call, Naomi Campbell?" Ken said again.

As if on cue the door burst open wider than it was intended to do and a blonde girl emerged. The first thought that crossed through my mind was that she was beautiful. I barely noticed that fact that her blonde locks looked like they lost a battle with the hairbrush, her thick glasses were lopsided and had several pieces of tape holding it together, and she had a mountain of books and papers that looked as unstable as the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

"Sorry for my tardiness sir, I just received my schedule," Naomi said, "won't happen again."

Ken smiled at her. "Quite alright Naomi, as I told the class before I'm not a huge heckler for class attendance but I would appreciate a more discreet entrance if you're late, I quite like the door on its hinges."

The class erupted in laughter and the blonde flushed bright red. "Sorry," she murmured shuffling through the desks to find an empty seat.

She took the empty desk right beside me and set her books down. She must have not had time to stock up her locker. She looked frazzled and stressed out, and her clothes were all sorts of wrinkled like she had picked it up off the floor in her rush.

She wore skinny jeans and a loose pig T-shirt that was too big for her small body. She was absolutely adorable.

I didn't realize I was staring until she looked at me with a questioning look. That's when I saw her light blue eyes. They were like the color of the sky and so deep I could get lost in them for ages. Suddenly I really wanted to take a picture of them.

"Emily Fitch?"

I shook my head from the intense gaze and cleared my throat. "P-present."

Ken smiled at me and read off the next name, "Bradley Frost?"

I felt the blonde's eyes on me, but I didn't dare turn back for fear that I might get lost in her eyes again.

She was so beautiful; like the most beautiful girl I have ever seen. I've never felt this way about anyone. Her very presence caused a turmoil within me that I couldn't understand. I couldn't even begin to fathom it.

Was I attracted to her even though I've haven't really been attracted to anybody since before the incident? Did I want to be her friend? Maybe make my own contribution to the gang since they've all brought in friends to our group.

"Pete Walker?"

"Present sir."

Ken said his name in a tone that indicated, 'aaand finally,' so I paid attention. Finally, assignment time. Surely a good assignment would take my mind off the intoxicating geeky blonde sitting beside me.

"Now most first days are all about reading syllabi and going around the room with introductions," Ken said. "Well that's a load of bullocks. We don't need a syllabus, we take pictures, that's it. As far as introductions, I can think of a better way to do it." He held up a stack of papers and motioned for the student who had been asking him questions earlier to hand out the papers.

"Assignment number one," Ken said with a grin. "This will not only serve as an introductory activity but it will also let me see what levels each of you are. You are to partner up with someone here in class and create a photo album that tells us a bit about your partner. The sheet going around has questions you should answer in your pictures. Due next Monday. Now go on, mingle and choose your partners."

I gulped in nervousness. I was excited about the assignment, but it was the fact that I had to introduce myself to a stranger and then get to know them that I was nervous about. I was about to stand up and walk around awkwardly until someone said to me, 'hey, do you have a partner yet?' when Naomi turned to me and said, "wanna partner up?"

I stammered a bit in surprise and said, "y-yeah yeah, sure."

She nodded and grinned. "I'm Naomi," she said offering her hand, "if you didn't gather that from earlier when I nearly broke through the door like in one of those American cop shows."

I giggled like a little schoolgirl. Fuck sake, Emily, the hell was that? I cleared my throat, trying to compose myself and said, "I'm Emily." I shook her hand firmly and gave her a friendly smile.

I liked feeling her soft hand in mine it was rather comforting. That didn't even make sense, I JUST met her...literally!

"You gonna give me my hand back anytime soon?" Naomi said with a small smile.

"Sorry," I said blushing and releasing her hand.

"No worries," Naomi said with a laugh, "I would give you my hand gladly, but I reckon it'd be difficult to hold up a camera and take a good shot without it."

Her teasing, carefree nature was absolutely refreshing. She seemed to be absolute comfortable in her own skin, like she knew exactly what she wanted in life. She had a purpose.

I wish I had a purpose. I dunno how this girl does it though, if I had her disheveled appearance I would be too ashamed to even show my face. But Naomi sat there exuding confidence from every single pore in her body.

Now I wonder if she dresses that way on purpose, like trying to tell everyone to go fuck themselves if they didn't like her appearance.

"So, when do you wanna start the project?" Naomi said as we both received our question sheets.

"We can meet after school and set up a time," I said. "I'm free after school basically everyday since I don't really do extracurriculars."

"Cool, give me your number so we can meet up," Naomi said.

"Sure," I said handing her my phone so she could save my number and grabbing hers when she offered it to me. After saving my number in we switched back. I saw that she had saved her number under 'Naomi C-fit bird from your photography class.'

I chuckled and she gave me a small wink as we were dismissed and she started gathering her things. I didn't know what I felt for this strange girl, but I found that I really didn't want to ponder too much about it; I just wanted college to end quickly so I could see her again.

Going on impulse I said, "would you like me to help you take your books to your locker?"

She smiled at me and said, "yes, thank you very much."


	4. Fight

**AN: So yllod pointed out that I skipped something and I realized that it was TWO chapters that was pretty dumb of me so I apologize. Here are the missing chapters lol so this update gets you four chaps which is pretty generous so review it please**

Scars

Fight

"Thanks for helping me carry my books," Naomi said stacking the last of her books in her locker and looking at me.

"It's no problem," I said with a smile, "You seemed a bit frazzled when you walked into class."

Naomi snorted then looked at herself in the locker mirror. "Shit, yeah, didn't even have time to brush my hair."

I reached into my purse and handed her my hairbrush. "You can use it if you want."

"Oh thanks," she said taking the brush and brushing through her tangled locks.

"What happened anyways that made you late?"

Naomi snorted. "I was waiting in line all night at the box office to buy tickets for the new Star Trek movie that opens next week. It's assigned seating so I wanted to get a good one."

I looked at her in surprise, not because she was a Trekkie, but because she had actually told me that she was. She had this confident grin on her face that was beaming with pride. J.J was a Trekkie too but he was usually too shy to ever mention it.

"So did you get a good seat then?" I said with a smile.

She let out a small breath of...relief? Annoyance? Then said, "right in the center. Bought two tickets just in case."

"I hope they're worth being late," I said with a smile.

"They will be," Naomi said excitedly. "Sure the new movies are a bit modern and some fans don't like the changes but I think it's about time Star Trek actually looked futuristic!"

I nodded my head and said, "I watched a few episodes of the show with my brother James whenever I was bored. Mostly I liked taking pictures of his face whenever something happened."

"Really? Which series?"

I looked at her in confusion. "There's more than one series?"

Naomi laughed. "Yes! They focus on different ships with different Captains and crews."

"Oh, well I think James watched more than one series, I remember one bald captain, he got captured by these robot thingies that injected these nasty-looking tubes into his neck."

"Picard!" Naomi cried excitedly. She handed me back my brush since her blonde hair now looked tidy and neat. It was straight and reached just below her cheeks. Made her look even more beautiful if you ask me. "That episode is three parts long."

"Whoa, really?" I said.

Naomi nodded. "It's called Best of Both Worlds and it was released all together as a movie. One of the best episodes ever. The robotic thingies as you say are called Borg."

"Cool," I said with a smile. "Now I wish I had paid attention. I did pay attention to one with that female captain. She was hardcore, though I suspect my brother only watched that one because of this blonde model-looking character. He's a bit of a perv."

Naomi laughed. "Yeah a lot of guys watch it for Seven of Nine, she was added into the series to raise the ratings. It worked."

"I enjoyed those episodes, much more interesting," I admitted.

"Well I must bring you into the Star Trek world," Naomi said with a smirk.

"Bring me to the dark side?"

Naomi howled in laughter even though I wasn't really sure what was so funny. She explained it when she said, "that's Star Wars."

"What's the difference?"

Now her face turned dead serious. Oh shit what did I say? "You will come to the movie with me next week," she stated more than asked. "I will show you the difference."

"Sorry if I offended you," I said meekly.

Naomi laughed softly. "You didn't Emily, I'm just taking the piss."

"Oh," I laughed.

A group of girls passed by and one of the bumped my shoulder hard making me stumble back and hit the lockers behind me.

She turned and looked at me with a sneer and said, "watch it bitch!"

"You watch it you fucking cow!" Naomi snapped stepping in front of me and slamming her locker shut.

The girl looked at her challengingly and her friends flanked behind her like a little army. Naomi didn't even flinch. She just stared them down and waited.

"Emily?"

I turned my head at the sound of Katie's voice and she must have seen my panic because her and Effy, who was next to her, rushed to my side.

"Emsy are you alright?" Katie said worriedly.

"Oh two bitches?" The girl said.

"Hey, don't fucking call her that!" Naomi snapped shoving the girl's shoulder.

I saw Effy step up next to Naomi with an intimidating stance. She had this stone cold expression on her face that sent chills down my spine. Katie, who had been next to me, stomped towards the group in anger.

Uh oh. Nothing beats a Fitch temper...

"Listen you fucking cunt!" Katie screamed. "You go anywhere near my sister again I will tear your fucking nasty ass head off your shoulders!"

The girl shoved Katie back angrily and in a flash Effy stepped forward and slammed her fist into the girl's face. The girl flew back and landed on her arse bleeding profusely through her nose.

Effy wiped her hand as if she had touched a nasty substance then flashed her sharp blue eyes at the girl's friends.

Naomi chortled loudly and clapped her hands. "Blimey nice punch!"

I saw Harriet down the hall looking at us questioningly and I lunged forward. "It's Harriet! Let's go!"

"Bugger," Naomi murmured grabbing my hand and tugging me down the hall. Katie and Effy were running next to me, Katie giggling and Effy smirking.

I looked back and saw the girl and her friends scrambling away like roaches. I took great pleasure in that.

When we reached the front of the college we stopped running and burst into laughter. "Best first day ever!" Naomi laughed.

"Effy you broke that bitch's nose!" Katie laughed.

Effy shrugged carelessly but had a smug grin on her face. She looked at Naomi and said, "thanks for backing us up."

Naomi smiled at her and said, "that cow had the nerve to shove Emily into the lockers and then demand an apology."

"Thank you," I said giving her a nod.

"No problem," Naomi said.

"Thanks for defending my sister," Katie said with a friendly smile. "I'm Katie."

Naomi shook her hand looking between Katie and I. "Shit you do look alike! You twins?"

"Well yeah," Katie said.

"Ahh, cool," Naomi said. "I'm a twin too." There was a hint of sadness in her voice but Katie didn't seem to notice.

"Really?" Katie cried. "Oh that's great! I'd love to meet her."

Naomi just smiled but said nothing more. Instead she said, "I'm Naomi by the way."

"Right nice to meet you and thanks for helping my sister," Katie said.

Effy shook Naomi's hand and said, "I'm Effy." She gave me this 'I'm impressed' smile that didn't make any sense to me.

"Girl with the iron fist." Effy laughed at Naomi's statement. "Well I don't wanna be late for my next class, so I'll see you after school yeah Emily?" Naomi said turning to me.

"Yeah, I'll text you," I said.

"Cool, and remember to save the date next Friday, it starts at 8."

I looked at Naomi incredulously. "I thought you were joking."

She put her hand on my shoulder and looked me right in the eyes. I gulped, trying not to get lost in those beautiful eyes. "I never joke about Star Trek."

She winked at me then laughed skipping away cheerfully. "Well isn't she a ray of sunshine," Katie laughed. "Nice friend you made Emsy."

"You like her?" I said suddenly needed her approval. Effy was smirking at me again like...like she KNEW. Fucking mind-reader.

"Yeah, she's great, we should introduce her to the gang, maybe her and her twin," Katie said. "It'd be nice to have another set of twins in the group."

"I think you shouldn't ask her about her twin," Effy said, "she didn't seem too happy when she mentioned it."

"And she changed the subject quickly," I supplied.

"Oh," Katie said sadly, "well I hope nothing bad happened to the twin, I know how terrible it feels to lose one."

I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. She smiled at me then we started walking to our next class.

"So Ems," Effy said with that infuriating smirk, "what are doing with Naomi after school?"

...

"Hey," I said walking up to Naomi who standing next to bike racks holding up a bike and smoking a cigarette.

"Hey Em," she said with a smile.

I smiled. I liked the way she shortened my name, as if she'd known me for years. "Yours or mine?"

"My mum keeps a nice garden, it'd be a nice place to take pictures," Naomi said. "Do you have your camera?"

"Always," I said pointing at my purse.

Naomi grinned. "Hop on then."

I gave an incredulous look. "What?"

Naomi pointed to the back wheel of her bike that had to metal bars protruding on either side. "You put your feet on those then grab onto my shoulders."

I must have looked worried because Naomi added, "I am an excellent bike rider, could be a professional if I wanted."

I snorted. "That's bullocks."

Naomi shrugged and said, "hop on and find out."

I chuckled and walked to the back of the bike. She put out her fag then climbed onto the bike and looked back at me. She held the bike steady as I climbed onto the metal bars then grabbed onto Naomi's shoulders.

"Don't let your legs hit the moving wheel yeah? If not we're both eating pavement," Naomi warned.

"Shouldn't happen if you could be a pro cyclist," I retorted with a smirk.

Naomi laughed. "Well aren't you cheeky?"

"Maybe."

Naomi laughed and said, "off we go then."

Naomi grunted with effort to get the bike moving since it carried both of our weights but once it started moving faster she sat back in her seat and pedaled calmly.

I gripped her shoulders tight and enjoyed the fresh air blowing through my hair as we cruised down Bristol. I closed my eyes and sighed.

After my incident I found that I could really enjoy the simple pleasures because I had lived so long without them.

"I love bike riding," Naomi said.

I opened my eyes and looked down at her face, which looked so serene and calm and had this beautiful, peaceful smile that made my heart flutter.

"Anytime things got hard at home between my parents, back before my dad fucked off, my brother and I used to take our bikes and ride around until mum called us and told us it was safe to come home," Naomi said.

"You have a brother too?" I said gently wanting to know more about the twin she'd mentioned but not wanting to pry.

"No, my brother is my twin," Naomi said.

"Oh a male twin," I said nodding.

Naomi nodded and smiled. "We actually look a lot alike despite being fraternal, he's pretty much a male version of me."

Okay there's that sad tone again, tread lightly, very lightly.

"I'd like to meet him," I said softly, "if he's anything like you I'm sure I'll love him."

Okay, did I...did I just tell Naomi that I love her? Fucking Hell Emily you twat!

Naomi chuckled and said, "thanks Emily." She didn't mention anything else about it though. She didn't speak again until she stopped her bike in front of a mustard yellow house. The front lawn was very well kept and had two rose-bushes in the front.

"This is my home," Naomi said as I jumped off her bike.

"It's very nice," I said as Naomi opened the garage door and walked her bike inside. She left her bike then closed the garage after her.

"Thanks, come on in then," Naomi said.

My phone beeped as I followed Naomi into the house. I grabbed my phone from my purse and saw text message from Cook.

_"Emilio, where you at? xXCookieMonsterXx"_

I sighed and wrote back,

_"I'm working on a project for my class, I'm okay. xXEmilyXx"_

Beep.

_"You sure you'll be okay? I can go hang with you xXCookieMonsterXx"_

_"Thanks Cook but I'm fine xXEmilyXx"_

Beep.

_"Okay send one my way if you need me xXCookieMonsterXx"_

I put my phone away as Naomi opened the door. "Welcome to my humble abode," she said with a smile.

The inside of the house was just as lovely: nice paintings on the walls, several statues and floral arrangements, and the smell of cookies filled the air.

"Mum I'm home," Naomi said.

"Hello darling, fancy some tea and cookies?"

"Sure mum, I've brought a new friend to work on a project," Naomi said.

An older blonde woman walked out of a room with a kind smile on her face. She looked like an older version of Naomi and everything about her was pleasant and nice.

"Welcome darling, join us for tea and cookies then?" She said sweetly.

"Sure Mrs. Campbell I'd love to," I said politely.

"Please dear call me Gina," she said with a smile. "And Naomi, is this how I taught you to do introductions?"

Naomi blushed and sheepishly said, "sorry mum. This is my friend Emily. Emily this is my mum Gina."

Gina grinned. "Come along then, tea and cookies."

...

"What were in those cookies anyways?" I asked as Naomi and I sat on the floor of the gazebo in the middle of the beautiful garden.

It was absolutely gorgeous and I could hardly wait to take pictures.

"Oatmeal raisin," Naomi said. "My mum makes a new type every day."

"That's great, wish my mum did that, she's a terrible cook," I said.

"Mm that's too bad," Naomi said. "What's the worst meal you've ever had?"

I snorted. "Well after the..." I trailed off clearing my throat with wide eyes. Naomi was looking at me curiously. "The worst thing she ever cooked was octopus legs. They weren't cooked enough and slimy and absolutely disgusting. Katie and I snuck out and got burgers."

Naomi looked disgusted. "Octopus."

"Yes, she's taken a liking to exotic foods," I said.

"Do you like exotic foods?"

"I prefer regular food."

Naomi chuckled. "I heard Emu is an aphrodisiac."

"Emu, like that big fucking bird?"

"Yeah, 2nd biggest in the world," Naomi said.

I snorted. "Ew."

Naomi shrugged. "We should try it one day. Just for fun."

"Just to see if it's an actual aphrodisiac?" I said with a smirk.

Naomi blushed. "Maybe."

I laughed and pulled out our assignment sheet. "Let's start shall we?"


	5. Assignment

**AN: Here's the second chap that was missing, sorry bout that again guys I hope you weren't terribly confused and now the next two chaps will make a lot more sense**

Scars

Assignment

"Favorite color," Naomi read. "How cliche is this shit?"

I snorted. "At least we get to take pictures. My favorite color is red."

Naomi chuckled. "I can see that."

I ran my fingers through my red hair and smiled.

"Hmm," Naomi said. "My favorite color is green."

"So maybe I can take a regular picture and just tint it green," I said.

Naomi nodded. "Great idea, I have this red blanket matches your hair. I'm thinking you can lie on the grass and have the blanket on top of you."

"Alright," I said standing up and adjusting my camera. "Ready?"

Naomi snorted. "Now? I look like fucking hell."

I smiled at her and said, "I think you look beautiful."

Shit. Did I just say that?

Naomi blushed and smiled this bright smile that my heart skip a beat. Without hesitation I snapped a picture.

"Whoa! No warning?" Naomi laughed.

"Sorry," I said with a shrug, "nice smile."

Naomi blushed even redder and stood up. "Let me grab the blanket and fix up a little, you know just change my clothes, take off my glasses."

"I quite like your glasses," I said. "I don't think I'd pull them off."

"What? That's ridiculous!" Naomi laughed removing her glasses. "Here try."

I snorted. "No way, I'd look like a dork."

"That's bullocks, try," Naomi said handing me the glasses.

I sighed and put the glasses on my face. I smiled shyly then jumped when I heard the shutter of a camera.

I took off the glasses and glared at Naomi who waved her camera around with a smirk. "You're a tosser you know," I said.

Naomi smirked. "Come on up to my room, help me choose an outfit for our photoshoot yeah?"

I nodded and followed Naomi back into the house and up the stairs. Her room was like a political activist hideout. There were posters of revolutionary heroes, upcoming rallies, and slogans for all sorts of campaigns like animal rights, feminism, and getting rid of abortion and the death penalty.

"You should come with me to one of the rallies," Naomi said opening her closet. "They're quite fun."

"You are against the death penalty and abortion?" I said.

"They're both pretty much the same thing," Naomi said.

"How so?" I scoffed.

Naomi's eyes locked with mine. "They're both about self-indulged humans thinking they have the right to take another life."

"Okay," I said nodding. "What if the girl was raped? She has to keep the baby?"

Naomi looked at me a bit surprised. "Uh well..."

"And how about if it had happened by a nasty wanker who spent two years raping and beating you every single day until you were nothing left but a broken shell of yourself who doesn't even know who you are anymore," I blabbed as tears rushed to my eyes. Subconsciously I knew I should stop but I couldn't. "Don't you think it would give you peace of mind to know that that man couldn't hurt you again, that he would get killed like the rat bastard he is and never ever hurt you or anyone else ever again?"

Naomi looked completely stunned and I had tears streaking down my cheeks. Getting a grip on myself I wiped my tears away and turned away from her.

"Maybe we should start taking pictures tomorrow," I said my voice shaking.

I felt her presence next to me but I didn't dare to look at her. She gripped the posters that had the slogans against abortion and the death penalty and ripped them off the wall. I glanced at her with tears in my eyes and saw her crinkle the posters up then throw them over her shoulders.

She looked me right in the eyes and gave me a smile. "I'll bike you home if you want."

I wiped away my tears that couldn't seem to stop and nodded. "Yes please, we'll start tomorrow, ready to go."

Naomi nodded then looked at the assignment sheet she had in her hand. "We'll do favorite color, favorite food and favorite hobby tomorrow. It asks about parents so we'll get a shot of my mum."

I nodded. "The day after we can go to mine to get my parents too." I looked at the assignment sheet at the last question. I cleared my throat and said, "we'll get a picture of Katie and James too."

Naomi nodded. "We can do mine for that one the day after that." There's that sadness again, but it was brief because she cheerfully added, "let's go yeah?"


	6. Depressy-Land

**AN: Hey guys, the school year is kinda getting hectic so I've been trying not to fall behind in classes and I missed two classes sessions for one of my classes so EEEKKK! Anyways I haven't had time to write a new chap for witness, but I already wrote this chap and the next so I will post them both to make up for it. Your reviews are so encouraging, I got the initial reviews and I loved them and then I got a new one like 2 days ago and I was like damn I have to post. It is very encouraging and I appreciate them very much****  
**

Scars

Depressy-land

"Thanks for bringing me," I said. God the tears just wouldn't stop. I sniffled my tears and said, "I'm sorry."

Naomi climbed off her bike and gently wiped away a stray tear with her thumb keeping her palm on my cheek. "You don't have to apologize." She leaned forward and gently kissed my cheek near my mouth. I fought the urge to kiss her on the lips as she backed away from me smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow Emily," she said mounting her bike.

She rode away smiling back at me and I stood on my driveway, crying and watching her like an idiot. I watched her ride away and then stayed glued to my spot touching my tingling cheek where she had kissed me.

Her lips were so soft and she was so gentle, as if I were a piece of glass.

"Emily? Are you alright?" I snapped out of my thoughts at the voice. "Emily?"

I looked slightly down at James who was standing in front of me. The moment I saw him I burst into tears.

It's like one of those moments where you have all these emotions bubbling inside you, and the moment you see a familiar caring face you burst into tears. The same thing happened when I saw my brother and he quickly laid my head on his shoulder and hugged me tight; no perving this time.

He held me to him, not needing to stand on his tiptoes since I was not much taller than him, and slowly led me inside. I had my head on his shoulder letting him lead me blindly up the stairs and into my room.

Dad was at the gym, Mum had a new client, and I didn't hear Katie's Britney Spears album thumping through the house like always, so only James was home.

He led me into my room and laid me down on my bed. He caressed my face gently and said, "it's alright Emsy, it's alright."

"Don't leave," I sobbed gripping onto his arms. Remembering Foster at Naomi's house brought back some unpleasant memories. Suddenly I saw his face in front of me with that nasty sneer as he touched me everywhere. My scars ached as if he were doing them again slowly, laughing that low disgusting chuckle.

I kept seeing Naomi's poster about pro-life. I felt bad about that abortion, but I couldn't have his child. I couldn't bare a monster, a poor innocent child that I would look at everyday and see Foster looking back at me saying, "I win, you are mine!"

Everyone had attended Foster's trial where he was given the death penalty, but I couldn't attend. I didn't want to see his face. I saw enough of his face in my nightmares.

"Emily! Emily! Please, calm down! Please!"

I looked up at James in shock. He was kneeling on my bed gripping my shoulders. I didn't realize I had been sobbing hysterically. He looked so scared.

"James," I sobbed. "I keep seeing him. He's laughing at me, he's whispering in my ear, he's...touching me! Make him stop James! Make him stop!"

"Shh, shh, Emily," James said lying beside me and hugging me to himself. "He can't hurt you anymore, if he tried I would fucking kill him."

I snuggled against his chest and cried until there were no tears left. It wasn't very often that James and I interacted in such an emotional level.

Before I was kidnapped he was just my annoying brother who perved on Katie and I on a daily basis and got constantly beat up. After I was recovered James completely changed towards me. He was kind and gentle with me and always asked me how my day was with legitimate curiosity. He never even perved on me anymore, just Katie.

I heard the door open and then Katie's voice saying, "James what the fuck are you..."

James lifted his head towards her and I knew that's when she saw me because she cried out, "Oh my God Emily!"

My bed started shaking then I felt Katie's body pressing up behind me.

She hugged me tight and laid her chin on my shoulder. "Shh Emsy, it's alright I'm here now."

James said, "Katie's here, maybe I should go now."

He moved to leave but I grabbed his shirt tight and cried out, "No James, don't leave!"

"O-okay," James said snuggling me again.

"James," Katie said. "You try to leave again, I'll kick your ass."


	7. Wager

**AN: The second chap, mostly to make up for the fact that the last one was really short sorry bout that that's what writer's block does. Bleh**

Scars

Wager

"You sure you don't mind me sitting with you and your friends at lunch?" Naomi said as we walked towards the outside table holding our lunch trays.

"Yes," I said with a smile. "Really all you needed was the approval of Katie and you got that yesterday when you defended me from that cow."

"Did Effy approve too?"

"Sure, but Effy is not really the judgmental type, she's outgoing and very...smooth I suppose," I said. I pointed to our table and said, "okay, guy with the sandy hair and tattoos, that's Cook, he will most definitely preposition you for sex in the most lewd manner possible."

"Oh goodie," Naomi said sarcastically.

I laughed and said, "guy with the smooth hair..."

"Justin Bieber hair."

I looked at Freddie more closely then laughed. "Shit, yeah, didn't notice that. Anyways that's Freddie, nicest bloke I ever met."

"Not going to preposition me for sex?"

"No, not even if he was single," I said. "He's pretty head deep in love with Effy. They've been dating for quite a while."

"Oh, good match."

"Geeky boy with the braces, that's J.J," I said. "He's very sweet and nice, but he has slight autism so sometimes when something shocks him he'll go into this crazy rant we called 'locked on.'"

"How do you snap him out of it?"

"The boys usually smack him really hard, the girls just flash him."

"Seriously?"

I shrugged with a small chuckle. "Tits make everyone shut up I suppose."

"Hmm, let's test it, whip out yours."

I giggled and smacked Naomi's arm with my free hand.

"Okay, who's the blonde chick wearing that pink teddy bear jumper?" Naomi said.

"Oh that's Pandora, bit peculiar, doesn't really know much about subtlety or censorship," I said. "Dresses in the most ridiculous outfits."

"Nah that's bullocks, people can wear anything if they wear it right," Naomi said with that sexy confident grin.

I raised a brow at her. "So you're saying you can rock that jumper?"

"Absolutely."

"Hmm, so if I were to ask Panda to borrow that jumper you would wear it to college tomorrow the whole day?"

"And make it look good."

I smirked at her. "Care to make it a wager?"

Naomi smirked right back at me and stopped walking. "I'm listening."

I stopped and looked her right in the eyes. "If I win you have to let me do a photoshoot I've always been wanting to do but never had the subject."

"I don't mind posing," Naomi said with a grin.

I cleared my throat and said, "nude pics."

Naomi's eyes widened slightly. "Serious?"

"Yeah," I said. "I could never take pictures of Katie, and Pandora is too shy, and Effy said she would only if Freddie didn't mind, but he didn't fancy the idea of naked pictures anyone other than him could see."

"Heh, alright," Naomi agreed. "If I win, hmm..."

I grinned at her expectantly.

"If I win you have to go with me to the animal rights rally on Saturday," Naomi said.

"Animal rights rally?" I said raising a brow.

Naomi grinned and nodded.

"Alright good deal," I said. "You'll wear the jumper and then my friends can all vote if you rocked it or not. They can vote anonymously."

"How do I know you won't tell your friends to vote nay just so you can see me naked?" Naomi smirked.

"I'm not a cheater," I said. "I won't tell them what the wager yields just that they have to vote."

"Okay, then," Naomi said resuming our walk to the table.

"Emilio!" Cook cried in greeting raising his arms.

"Heya Em!" Pandora said cheerfully.

"Everybody, this is Naomi," I said. "I've already introduced you lot to her."

"Pandora right?" Naomi said starting a round of handshakes. "J.J? Freddie? And Cook? Yeah?"

Cook who had just finished shaking her hand turned it and gave it a languid kiss. "That's right babes, and I know the perfect way for you to get to know the Cookie Monster better."

"Christ Cook, you wanna let the girl sit down before you try to shag her?" Katie said in annoyance. "Fucking wanker."

Wow, she seems pissed off. Effy was looking at her a bit surprised studying her to try to figure out why. I knew why. She had a crush on Cook. A big one.

"Nice to see you again Naomi," Katie greeted.

"Hi Katie, hi Effy," Naomi said. Effy nodded to her in response then Naomi addressed Cook. "And to answer your question, uh, Cookie Monster was it? Hmm, yeah very original, no I would not like to get to know you better. In fact I wouldn't shag you if you super glued your tongue to my cunt and sat on a cement mixer."

The table erupted in laughter and Cook looked stunned. After a moment he roared his special laugh and said, "Oi Emilio, I really like this bird. Naomi yeah?"

I nodded.

"Welcome to our group Naomikins," Cook said.

"You'll have to write down some of those comebacks for me," Freddie said with a smile. "I can hand them out to girls at the parties so they'll be prepared for Cook."

"Oi don't be a tosser!" Cook laughed.

"That'd be fun, we'd give one to every single girl at the party," Effy said with a chuckle.

"Whizzer, isn't that what's called green balling?" Pandora said.

Naomi nearly choked on her water and I laughed. "It's blue balling Pandora, blue."

"There is no possible way for the male genitalia to turn blue," J.J said. "Or green for that matter. Best case it might turn red, or more accurately a pinkish tone..."

"J.J," Freddie said laughing, "whoa mate."

"Totally like, TMI yeah?" Katie said.

J.J looked like he was processing the information. "Ah, too much information. Right. Sorry."

"It's alright mate," Freddie said giving him a gentle pat on the back.

"So Naomi, do you have any friends here? I've never seen you around her before," Effy asked.

"My brother and I went to private school growing up," Naomi said nodding.

"And your twin too?" Katie said.

Bugger, why did you have to mention the twin Katie? I didn't want to hear that sad tone in Naomi's voice that made my heart clench, so I answered, "her brother is her twin."

"Oh fraternal!" Katie said.

"Oi, wait, we got another set of twins?" Cook cried. "Right'o so where's your brother he should join us."

"He, uh," Naomi hesitated. "He doesn't go to Roundview."

She looked so sad I wanted to hug her. Luckily Effy seemed to catch on that and changed the subject, "so Kieran gave us that assignment on the first week. Can you believe that? For a guy who doesn't give a shit he sure gives out tough assignments."

"Oh yeah, I don't even know who I'm gonna do the report on," Freddie said.

"He said any political figure yeah?" Cook said. "Reckon I'll do Kennedy."

"Really?" Katie said in surprise. "He was a very important American president, he..."

Cook scoffed. "I don't give a shit about that! He was shagging Marilyn Monroe! That guy is my idol!"

Katie rolled her eyes and Effy shook her head. Freddie sighed and said, "I do apologize for Cook's...stupidity."

"Oi I take offense to that!" Cook cried. "What are you gonna do your report on then Mr. Smarty-Pants?"

Freddie shrugged. "I dunno. It's so vague, what if I choose the wrong political figure? Or choose a guy who wasn't a political figure?"

"Actually that assignment will probably not even be read through," Naomi said. "Put it in an important name as the title, type up a bunch of bullocks, and you'll get an A. Kieran won't read them."

She took a bite of her sandwich and grinned. Everyone was looking at her in surprise. "How do you figure?" I asked.

Naomi shrugged. "I've known Kieran for a while, I've seen him grade papers."

Cook cocked an eyebrow intrigued. "Like...at his house?"

Naomi gave him a deadpan look then looked disgusted when she realized what he meant. "Ew no I am not shagging him, that's disgusting! Not only because he's old enough to be my father, but also because he's shagging my mum."

I was the one who nearly choked on my water this time. Cook howled in laughter and cried, "fookin hell!"

Naomi shook her head. "I'm not in his class cause I've walked in on him on my mum way too many times."

The table erupted in laughter again and I rubbed her arm gently. "Sorry you had to see that Naoms."

She smiled at me.

"Once I walked in on Katie giving some random bloke a blowjob," I said suddenly.

Everyone's eyes snapped to Katie whose face had reddened darker than my hair. "Fuck sake, Emily!"

"Oi Katie, didn't know you were a dirty girl," Cook teased shifting up close to her. "Did you deep throat? Was he even big enough for that?"

"Fuck off!" Katie cried shoving him away.

"No he wasn't," I said.

Laughter erupted again and Katie hit me in the head with a napkin. "You fucking cow!"

"Didn't know you had such a mouth on ya Katiekins," Effy teased with a smirk.

Katie let out a frustrated squeal and buried her face in her hands.

"Alright, alright, lay off her!" Freddie laughed. "Don't act like none of you have done the dirty."

Katie peeked at him through her fingers and said, "thanks Freddie."

"I should be going now gang," Pandora said standing up, "I'm meeting my new lab partner Thomas for a project we have. And guys he's whizzing cute! He's from Congo and he likes doughnuts!"

Effy gave her a genuine smile, which was rare but very nice to see. She did have a real affection for the peculiar girl. I turned to Panda and said, "hey Panda, do you mind if I borrow your jumper?"

The entire table was stunned to silence, even Effy looked absolutely confused. Pandora looked down at her ridiculous jumper then at me in confusion. "Really?"

I grinned at her and said, "Naomi and I are taking pictures by the lake tomorrow for our project and it gets very cold there. She doesn't have a jumper of her own."

Pandora looked at Naomi and said, "really? You live in shit weather Bristol and you don't have a jumper?"

Naomi shrugged and said, "my mum doesn't believe in them."

I snorted trying to contain my laughter.

Pandora grinned. "Well alright then." She lifted off her jumper and handed it to Naomi. The shirt she had underneath was even worse than the jumper. It was mustard yellow and had unicorns all over it.

"Wow, that's an...interesting shirt you got there Panda," Effy said.

"Yeah? You think Thomas will like it?" Pandora said.

"He'd be crazy not to!" Cook said with a smile. It was one of those friendly, I'm-not-trying-to-sleep-with-you smiles that he gave me.

"Thanks Cookie, bye guys," Pandora said.

"I'll return you jumper as soon as possible," Naomi said.

"Whizzer it's alright, you can keep it," Pandora said.

Naomi looked like a deer caught in the headlights but she said, "er, thanks."

The moment Pandora was out of ear shot Effy leaned forward and said, "okay what's the deal?"

"Yeah, Em you have loads of jumpers you could loan to Naomi," Katie said.

I smirked and said, "well Ms. Big-shot here thinks she can wear anything and make it look good, so we made a little wager."

"Ooo I want in!" Cook cried.

"No guys, this is a personal one, but we'd like you to be the judges," I said. "Naomi will wear the jumper tomorrow and you guys will vote yay or nay."

"It could be anonymous if you're too embarrassed," Naomi said.

"We're a blunt bunch," Freddie said with a smile. "No worries."

"What do you win out of it?" Katie said raising an eyebrow.

"Can't discuss it," I said. Naomi smiled and nodded.

Effy smirked at me and said, "I think I can guess."

"Of course you can Ms. Know-it-all," I scoffed. "But don't."

Effy shrugged and muttered, "alright."

"I suppose you can call Effy omniscient," J.J said. "Like a 3rd person omniscient narrator that knows everything. It's not like limited where the narrator follows one character and goes into the mind of that character. Omniscient can jump characters and get into more than one mind. Though that'd be quite difficult if it was a stream-of-consciousness story, then we'd get..."

"J.J, you're locked on mate," Freddie said.

"...imagine following the natural minds of every single character. We'd have a hard time figuring out where one character stops thinking and the other one begins, especially if they go to the past..."

"Jaykins!"

"...or they envision the future. We'd lose sense of the tense entirely. Only the tense of the words can define it, like was and were for past, is and are for present, will and..."

"Hey Jay," Effy said lifting her shirt suddenly and showing her breasts.

"Sha...ohhh my giddy giddy giddy aunt..."

"Effy!" Freddie cried.

"Oi nice tits!" Cook howled. "They got bigger since I last saw them, lucky Freddie!"

Freddie shoved him and Cook laughed. Effy pulled her shirt back down and sat back beside Katie who was laughing her ass off. I chuckled and glanced at Naomi who looked a bit stunned.

"You know you're right Ems," Naomi said, "tits do shut people up."

**They do, they also make some people salivate like dogs hahaha**


	8. Picture Perfect

**AN: Update! I have a gig later today singing for some teens with mental disabilities and I feel really good about it so I was encouraged to try to brighten everyone's day with an update. I don't know if it'll brighten your day but it's worth a try. Leave your reviews to brighten my day ;) **

Scars

Picture Perfect

Click. Click. Click.

I changed the poses between every click, holding the red blanket to my chest or pressing it against my cheek.

"Oh that last one was nice," Naomi said looking at her camera screen. "You look like that one bear that cuddles the blanket on that one fabric softener."

"Oh thanks, I've always wanted to look like a bear," I said sarcastically.

Naomi snorted. "Hey he's a cute bear!"

"I got a lot of good shots of you too," I said standing taking Naomi's hand and standing up from the ground. "I'll have a hard time deciding which one to tint green."

"I coulda been a model," Naomi said with a shrug.

"Oh so you're a pro-cyclist and a model," I said teasingly.

"Jack of all trades."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Okay so favorite food is next yeah?"

"Mine is...don't laugh okay, but Garibaldis."

I snorted my laughter and covered my mouth with my hand.

"Hey I said don't laugh!"

"I'm sorry! It's just...Garibaldis? The biscuit?"

"I love them!" Naomi defended. "They're magically delicious."

"I'm pretty sure that's Lucky Charms."

"It can apply to other things."

"Only if there's a leprechaun present!"

"Hey you're short enough."

"Hey!" I cried laughing and smacking her arm. "Cheeky."

She just grinned and said, "come on, I have Garibaldis inside."

"I'll take some shots of you eating one and maybe showing the package off like a commercial," I said following her into the kitchen.

"Sounds good, what's your favorite food?" She said pulling out the package from a cabinet.

"Hard to choose, I love to eat," I said. "I'll eat just about anything."

"Except octopus."

"No I'll eat octopus, so long as my mother doesn't cook it," I said.

"So we can try emu?"

I chuckled. "God if you wanna try an aphrodisiac so much let's eat oysters."

"Okay, so I can suck the snot out of a shell or I can eat part of the 2nd biggest bird in the world," Naomi said. "Hmm, decisions, decisions."

"If I agree to go try emu with you will you shut up about it?"

Naomi grinned wildly. "Absolutely."

"Fine, we'll go tomorrow after taking pictures of my parents and my siblings," I said.

"Speaking of," Naomi said. "Hey mum, you getting ready for the picture yeah?"

"Yes dear, I'm doing my makeup now," came the response from upstairs.

"Right," Naomi said grabbing a Garibaldi from the package and pretending to bite it. She stayed still with the biscuit between her teeth and a blissful expression on her face.

I moved around the table taking several shots from different angles and lightings, making sure both Naomi eating and the package of Garibaldis was visible.

"Done," I said.

Naomi then proceeded to bite off a piece of the biscuit. "Try."

"No thanks."

"Come on, you said you'd eat anything."

I sighed and took a bite of her biscuit.

"Well?"

"Not bad," I said with a nod.

"Liar."

"No I'm serious," I laughed.

Naomi finished the rest of the biscuit then grabbed the package. "Like a commercial model yeah?"

"Yeah, like if you're showing off a brand new car," I said.

"Shouldn't I be in a my underwear then?"

I smirked at her. "If you really want to be, I DEFINITELY don't mind."

Naomi chuckled. "Look who's cheeky now."

She grabbed the package and motioned to it dramatically with her other hand as a huge cheesy smile spread across her face.

I couldn't help but laugh. That caused Naomi to laugh and we spent the subsequent five minutes trying to take the picture but laughing too hard to get the shot. I ended up getting a really nice one.

Naomi was holding the Garibaldi package her head thrown back in laughter. Her mouth was open and her eyes were closed. The sunlight behind her created a nice halo around her that made her look absolutely angelic.

"Okay I think that was the best pose all day," Naomi said after her laughing died down. She put the Garibaldi package away and said, "what's your favorite Emily? You still haven't said."

"Oh right, sorry," I said. "My favorite is chicken burgers. When I was little my parents would take us to get hamburgers and Katie and I would always get the same burger with the same exact ingredients, and Katie loved it because she loved the whole twin thing. It didn't help that mum dressed us the same. So one day I decided to order a chicken burger instead just to piss Katie off. Fell in love with it."

"Let's get a picture with my mum and then you can take me to your favorite chicken burger place," Naomi said. "We'll take pictures and I'll get to try your favorite food just like you tried mine."

"Good deal."

I sat beside Naomi as we waited for Gina to come downstairs. It was a nice comfortable silence, which I've never had with anyone except Effy but only because she didn't usually speak too much.

Naomi broke the silence with, "Reckon they can make emu burgers?"

"Naomi!"

...

"Mm! Blimey that's good!" Naomi cried with her mouth full of chicken burger. A piece flew out of her mouth and landed on my forearm.

"Think you can keep your food in your mouth next time?" I said flicking the speck away.

Naomi laughed and covered her mouth her hand as she said, "sorry."

She had taken several pictures of the burger by itself then of me eating the burger. She seemed much more relaxed after the shoot which was a relief because Gina had been...difficult.

The whole half hour I spent trying to take their picture Gina kept complaining about wanting to get her 'good side' or standing in the perfect light or insisting on looking at every single picture I took right as soon as I took it.

Naomi had snapped at her several times telling her to, "shut up and take the fucking picture."

It was pretty comical to see confident Naomi reduced to a pouty little five year-old. I wanted to pinch her cheeks, but that probably would have pissed her off even more.

"So Emily, what do you like to listen to?" Naomi said.

"Just about anything," I said.

"Even American country music?" Naomi said wrinkling her nose.

"Oi country music is great!" I defended. "Miranda Lambert, Shania Twain, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban, all great!"

Naomi snorted. "Don't you like any English bands?"

"Hmm," I hummed. "I like Westlife."

Naomi rolled her eyes and said, "they're just British Backstreet Boys!"

"What's wrong with the Backstreet Boys? I went to see them when I was 9," I said. "One of the best concerts ever!"

"Oh God, you poor child," Naomi said.

"Finish your burger I'm taking you somewhere," I said narrowing my eyes at her.

"Don't get pissed off, I'm just not a fan of pop music or country," Naomi said. "It's all about rock n' roll, classics like the Rolling Stones, Metallica, System of a Down, Aerosmith, Guns and Roses, Bon Jovi, you know? Real music."

"I listen to that type of music too, I appreciate everything," I said with a smile. "I've been saving up my allowance to go see System of a Down on that reunion tour. They're doing their greatest hits."

Naomi's eyes nearly bugged out. "When? Why the fuck didn't I hear about this?"

"Two months from Friday," I said.

"Ahh I have to go!" Naomi cried.

"Hey let's go together," I said.

"Yes! I would love to!"

Okay, wait. Is that a date?

"So where are you taking me?" Naomi said.

"Oh yeah, nearly forgot about that, let's go."

...

"A country bar? You're fucking taking the piss yeah?" Naomi said incredulously.

I had brought her to a small American country bar Cook and I had discovered one night when we were hanging out. It was owned by an American man from Tennessee, and they played nothing but country music.

Everybody in the bar wore plaid shirts and cowboy hats and when Naomi saw that...let's just say the look on her face was worth taking a picture of so I did.

"I better not see that picture on your facebook page," Naomi muttered.

"Shut up you'll love it," I said laughing. "Do you want a drink?"

Naomi shook her head. "I don't drink."

I was actually really happy to hear that. I haven't drunk a drop since the incident knowing it was partly responsible for my fate.

"I don't drink either," I said. "Come on, let's play darts."

"Darts?" Naomi scoffed as I grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the boards. I handed her three red darts and I grabbed three blue ones.

"Just try to hit the bull's eye," I said.

"I'm rubbish at this," Naomi said. "I've got terrible aim."

She threw her darts. One of them landed in the green 10, another one smacked the board then fell to the ground, and the third one missed the board completely and nearly hit a guy at a nearby table.

"Bugger! Sorry!" Naomi cried.

"I's all good pretty laday," the man responded in a Southern accent.

Naomi snorted then muttered to me, "then they make fun of our accents."

I chuckled and said, "you should have nailed him with that dart."

"Oi don't make fun of me," Naomi cried.

"It's alright, Cook is terrible at this too," I said positioning myself and aiming my darts. With three flicks of my wrist the three darts landed right in the red center.

Naomi looked stunned. "Fucking hell!"

"That's what Cook said," I said with a proud grin.

"Oh Billiards!" Naomi cried, "I'll beat you in that."

"They call it pool here, and no you won't," I said.

"Oh you are so on!" Naomi said. "Whoever loses pays for the emu tomorrow."

I laughed and said, "do you even know where the hell to get that?"

"Yeah, saw it on the menu of this restaurant," Naomi said.

"Fine then, loser pays for the emu."

...

"Who taught you to play?" Naomi said narrowing her eyes.

I smirked at her and set my pool stick on the table. "Freddie and Cook love playing for money, so they used me as a ploy. They'd get the game started raising the bets until they reached their limit, then they'd put me in saying I was their 'pupil' and they wanted to put me to the test. The opponent gets all confident and then I kick their arse."

Naomi laughed and set her pool stick down. "You hustler. I guess I'm buying then."

"Hey for a while I thought I was buying; you gave me a run for my money," I said.

"Yeah for the first 2 seconds of the game," Naomi scoffed.

"Hey I would team up with you against Freddie and Cook," I said.

"That actually sounds quite fun."

"I'll set it up," I said.

A familiar song country song blared through the speakers and Naomi grimaced. "Oh come on this is bullocks!"

"This is one of my favorites," I laughed. "Miranda Lambert 'My Mama's Broken Heart.'"

Naomi rolled her eyes as the Miranda's alto voice started the song with a strong Southern drawl.

"I cut my hair with some rusty kitchen scissors," I sang shimmying my shoulders.

She laughed and poked my shoulder playfully.

"Come on let's dance!" I said grabbing her hand.

"What! How do you even dance this?" Naomi cried.

"Let me lead," I said tugging on her hand.

She squeaked as I gripped her hand tight, spun her around, and pulled her to me. My hand went on her hip and I steadied her when she stumbled.

When Katie and I were little girls we used to dance around our room as if we were ballroom dancers. We'd do swing dancing, tango, salsa, all kinds of moves. I was the guy-not really a surprise-and Katie was the girl.

Katie was pretty light on her feet so it was easy for me to maneuver her even when she wiping her hair and arms dramatically.

Naomi...not so much.

She had no rhythm and kept tripping over her own feet. We jumped around the dance floor laughing wildly and nearly falling over courtesy of Naomi's two left feet.

It was, without question, the best day of my life.

**AN: I really do love American ****Country music though, it's great even the bluegrass stuff :) Song I referred to here was "My Mama's Broken Heart" by Miranda Lambert, it's the best country song ever lol**


End file.
